* Clinton, Zuma discuss Zimbabwe, Sudan, Somalia * U.S., South Africa want to improve ties By Sue Pleming DURBAN, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The United States and South Africa, whose relations were soured by clashes over HIV/AIDS and Pretoria's unhappiness with U.S. foreign policy under former President George Bush, pledged on Saturday to improve ties. Both sides hope the election of President Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan, and South Africa's Jacob Zuma, who replaced Thabo Mbeki, will lead to better relations. "In both countries there are two new administrations which are taking that relationship to a level higher. That's what we are trying to do," Zuma said after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Durban. He said the meeting also touched on the necessity for global institutions to reflect current realities. Clinton, flanked by South Africa's International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said the two countries wanted to put "the meat on the bone" of relations. "We have been tasked by our respective presidents, the foreign minister and I, to put meat on the bone, to get to work to make sure that the expectations of President Zuma and President Obama are met," Clinton said after the 45-minute-long meeting with Zuma. The discussion also covered regional issues including Zimbabwe, Somalia and Sudan, Clinton said. The United States wants South Africa to get the new unity government in its neighbour Zimbabwe to raise the pace of political reform which has been too slow for donors to release substantial amounts of aid crucial to reviving the damaged economy. NEW BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP On Friday Clinton and Nkoana-Mashabane both pledged a new bilateral relationship, suggesting a U.S.-South Africa business council to increase economic ties and a "bilateral mechanism" to tackle a range of issues from climate change to nuclear nonproliferation. The United States is also looking for South Africa to play a bigger leadership role both in Africa as well as in the United Nations Security Council where South Africa often sided against the Bush administration. "Relations were sometimes difficult and that was also characterised by their voting record (at the United Nations)," said a senior U.S. official traveling with Clinton. U.S.-South African ties also were strained over Mbeki's stance that was at odds with much of the international medical research on the causes of the HIV/AIDS virus that has afflicted millions of South Africans. But former U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Princeton Lyman, said with South Africa facing domestic turmoil, including recent strikes, it could be bogged down with problems at home. "The poor there are demonstrating for action. It's not clear how active Zuma will be on the continent," Lyman said. Despite preoccupations at home, the Obama administration sees Zuma as an easier personality than Mbeki, whose relationship with former Bush was prickly. "His (Zuma's) reputation, his credibility and openness are an incentive for a better relationship," the U.S. official said. During Clinton's visit, South African officials have welcomed the Obama administration's recent foreign policy decisions, such as taking up its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, which the Bush administration had shunned. While praising Washington, the new South African government wants a bigger voice in international financial bodies. "The transformation of Bretton Woods institutions will be to the benefit of all of us," said the South African foreign minister at a dinner in Clinton's honor in Pretoria on Friday. After her meeting with Zuma, Clinton set off for Cape Town where she planned to visit a housing project in a township near Cape Town as well as have a meeting with former South African President F.W. de Klerk. (Editing by Michael Roddy) (sue.pleming@reuters.com; 202 898 8393, Reuters Messaging: sue.pleming.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Residents carry the body of a boy killed during overnight shelling in south of the capital Mogadishu, August 8, 2009. Gunbattles between clan militiamen killed at least 17 people and wounded ...
